Anechoic Chamber Core Facility

The anechoic chamber at Boys Town National Research Hospital is the newest addition to our sound research facilities and is the most advanced facility of its kind in the region. The interior walls are covered by 19-inch tall triangular shaped wedges designed to significantly attenuate acoustic reverberations. Eliminating echoes and reverberation allows the audio simulation of other environments, including open field and virtual rooms of varying dimensions and materials. An array of 96 loudspeakers allows precise positioning of sound sources and virtual echoes. Our anechoic chamber lab can support a wide range of behavioral testing and acoustic measurements.

Technical Specifications

• The facility's design is based around an ETS Lindgren A100 anechoic chamber with interior dimensions of 4 x 4 x 4 meters.
• Audio capabilities include an array of 96 loudspeakers (Orb Audio) spanning 360o of azimuth and 90o (+/- 45o) of elevation in all directions.
• Audio is routed via a 128-channel (in/out) Dante audio-over-ethernet network, allowing flexible routing between 96 channels of loudspeaker amplification (Sonible d24), 32 channels of analog I/O, and up to 128 channels of digital I/O.
• Also included is a microphone array for calibration and audio capture, video monitoring, and participant interaction via touchscreen and head-mounted VR equipment.

This facility was developed with support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, U54 GM115458, which funds the Great Plains IDeA-CTR Network.